Next Week @ TC Announcements

To the TC Community,

TC Hoodies Arrive:

In what has been a major operation this week, the TC Hoodies have now been released. This has been a project that has truly met our school vision around co-creation. Students worked with leaders at the school to develop the design and colours, resulting in 294 Hoodies arriving this week. There will be another order taking place soon so that those who want to order some will have the opportunity to do so.

Also this week we held our first Student Parent Teacher Interviews for the year. There was a real feel of community over the day, which also included many positive conversations based around students making their own progress in their learning. The second session takes place next week and we are looking forward to seeing those who could not make the first session on Thursday.

This weeks announcements:

Hoodies

Student Parent Teacher Interviews FAQs

Parents Club Victoria Talk this Thursday

New Bus Pick Up Times Start on Monday

Sport Update

Student Consultation Session on Tuesday

Tutors Available

Monster Community Raffle

Second Hand TC Uniform

Last weeks announcements:

New Panorama Bus Morning Pick Up Time

Term Dates for the Year

End of Term Arrangements

Updated TC Dress Code 2018

Photo Day 2018

College Council Voting - no longer needed

Previous Relevant Announcements:

The WASHI Explained

Getting to know TC Document

Lost Property

Labelling of Clothes

After School Tutoring

TC Cafe Menu - New

VCE Attendance

VCE Information Evening Presentation

Scarlett Fever

New House Colours and Themes

Coles Sports for Schools Vouchers

Graduate students new opportunity to order hoodies

NAPLAN

Upcoming Events

Attendance @ TC

VCAA Special Exam Considerations Information (for VCE Students)

Performing Arts: Stage Dive Every Week

School Calendar for Term 1

Term Dates for the Year

VCE Catch Up Sessions

Panorama Bus Departure Times

Compass Log in

Camps, Sports and Excursions Fund (CSEF)

Times of the Day 2018

This Weeks Announcements

New School Hoodies

Exciting news! School hoodies were being delivered to SSDP groups today!! If you did not collect yours today, students are able to collect them from the RC before and after school, and during recess or lunchtime. All hoodies will need to be signed for when collected. Please also note that all hoodies have been labelled already with a students TC code.

Student Parent Teacher Interviews FAQs

We have our Student Parent Staff Interviews taking place over the next few weeks. These have been available to book on Compass. As for some these will be your first ones here @ TC, below are some FAQs.

Parents Association Victoria Information session

We are fortunate enough to have an information session on Thursday 22nd March at 5:30pm from Parents Association Victoria. They are talking to us about what a Parents Association/club can look like so that we can gain feedback on whether we think this would be useful to have one in running a TC way. Any parents that are interested in this initiative are very welcome to attend. This will be taking place in the PAC.

New Bus pick up times start on Monday

A reminder that new panorama morning bus times start on Monday. The announcement can be found below.

The term 2 sport survey has been emailed to students and is also available on the compass newsfeed. Students must complete this in order to participate in training and competition. Sports are AFL, badminton, netball, soccer.

Student Consultation Session on Tuesday

On Tuesday there is a student consultation session taking place. Students have been emailed about this and should have been discussing the topics in their SSDP groups. Topics include looking at the upcoming Athletics carnival, feedabck on the new/revised WASHI and also looking at changing the order of classes during the day. The start and finish times will remain the same on each day, and the length of lessons will remain the same, but we are holding discussions around changing the order of things and whether there could be changes to the length of recess and lunchtime. Following on from this consultation sessions there will be more communication with the community.

Tutors AVailable

Thank you to those that enquired about tutoring during parent teacher interviews. The RC offers a range of tutoring for all levels with subjects including Math, English, Philosophy and Sciences. You can find the attached schedule of tutors Monday to Friday. Please email the tutor directly to sign up.

MONSTER COMMUNITY RAFFLE

Raffle tickets were distributed during SSDP today (eldest child only). For those students that weren’t present, we have mailed the tickets to the primary family. This is a great opportunity to raise funds for Templestowe College and the Manningham community. Additional raffle books are available from the General Office.

Please return all ticket butts, money, and/or unsold tickets to the General Office by Friday 20 April 2018. Please note that it is important to return tickets regardless of whether they are sold or not.

SECOND-HAND TC UNIFORM

Do you have unwanted TC uniform taking up space in your wardrobes? Then the following options are available to you:

Donate

From now until the end of Term 1, Thursday 29 March, there will be several Vinnies bins positioned outside the General Office for donation of all good quality clothing. This is a great opportunity to donate unwanted Templestowe College school uniform.

Sell

We are willing to sell the following second-hand uniform items on your behalf providing that they are in excellent condition and embroidered with the current TC logo (ie no star):

VCE Handbook

This purpose of the VCE handbook is to help students, parents, and staff understand how the Victorian Certificate of Education (VCE) works at TC. It outlines how the Victorian Curriculum and Assessment Authority’s (VCAA) rules and instructions are administered and contains important school policies and procedures all members of the TC community must be aware of.

TC requires all VCE students (Units 1 - 4) to ‘acknowledge’ their understanding of our VCE policies & procedures. Students can access the online form via their email and/or their Compass Newsfeed.

Last Weeks Announcements

New Panorama Bus Morning Pick Up Times

Following on from requests from Students and Parents there are new Panorama Bus Pick Up times in operation from the 19th March. These have been changed to allow for a combination of reasons, such as the earlier start time and the road works at Eltham causing more traffic on the route. The new bus timetable can be found below:

Term Dates for 2018

Parents Association Victoria Information session

We are fortunate enough to have an information session on Thursday 22nd March at 5:30pm from Parents Association Victoria. They are talking to us about what a Parents Association/club can look like so that we can gain feedback on whether we think this would be useful to have one in running a TC way. Any parents that are interested in this initiative are very welcome to attend.

End of Arrangements

Please note that at the end of the term classes will run up until 3:30pm on Thursday 29th March.

Updated TC Dress Code

Please find below an updated TC dress code following on from consultation with students, staff and parents.

TC Photo Day - Tuesday 13th March

Please find below two files on our upcoming TC Photo Day. One is a page explaining the day, the other is a flyer for the packs that you can order. Please note that students do not need to wear school uniform for this day.

College Council Elections - Voting No Longer Needed

Due to the withdrawal of a candidate voting is no longer needed in the College Council Elections. Please dispose of your forms.

Previous Relevant Announcements

THE WASHI EXPLained

The first WASHI (Work and Study Habits Index) was released last week. This can be found on Compass. It is in a different format from last year as we made modifications based around feedback from students, staff and parents. Please find below a document detailing the criteria for the WASHI.

Getting to Know TC Document

Please find below a document detailing all the staff at TC, with their names, faces and contact details. This is a really useful document if you are looking for who does what at the school, or if you are looking for the right person to make contact with. Please be aware that it is a big file though.

Lost Property

We have a huge amount of lost property that can be collected from the Resource Centre.

Labelling of Clothes

As we have moved to be an optional uniform school it is still imperative to label students clothes. The lost property is located in the RC and we try to return clothes that are labelled. If clothes are not labelled they will remain in the RC for a week after which clothes will be donated to charity.

TC Cafe Menu

VCE Attendance

Some families may have received notifications about VCE Attendance and it being below 90%. Please be aware that the attendance figures that are used for VCE attendance are taken at the end of each week through a report that is produced at 1.30pm each Friday afternoon. These figures are used to identify any student that is below the minimum 90% requirement. Once identified, each student for each VCE subject they are below 90% receive a Compass notification via a Compass Chronicle. The Compass Chronicle is created by the school’s Attendance Officer and the communication from Compass at that point is automated. The communication is intended to make each student and family aware so that it can be acted upon and help to avoid any future issues with successfully achieving an ‘S’ outcome.

If you believe that this is received in error, please access Compass and look into your (child’s) attendance, ensuring that the dates used are from the 1 Feb 2018 to the most recent Friday. For example: if a notification is received next week then access Compass and use the dates 1 Feb 2018 to 23 Feb 2018 to filter the information. If you still believe this to be an error please email the school’s Attendance Officer, Sjin Kim (ski@tc.vic.edu.au)

VCE Information Session for Parents

The powerpoint that was used for the VCE Information Session for Parents is attached.

One specific question raised related to the duration of time that can be taken to complete VCE. VCAA have clarified this morning that there is no limit to the validity of VCE units of study, essentially meaning that the VCE can be done over a period longer than three years, which is often the default duration for most schools. Whilst this offers great flexibility for students that need this time, it may not be the best way to maximise achievement.

For parents of students undertaking VCE study please take the time to view it and feel free to contact Matthew Daly (mdal@tc.vic.edu.au) if you have any questions or require clarification on any VCE-related matters.

SCARLET FEVER

A student at TC has been diagnosed with Scarlet Fever. Scarlet Fever is a contagious bacterial throat infection that also features a red ('scarlet') rash. It is spread through coughing/sneezing, contact with contaminated surface and making physical contact with the infected person.

Symptoms of scarlet fever usually appear between one and three days after infection and include a very red sore throat and a red rash.

Red blotches are the first sign of the rash, which then changes to look like sunburn and feel like sandpaper. The rash will probably appear about two days after the child starts feeling ill, but can appear before they feel sick or up to a week later.

They may also have:

a whitish coating on their tongue or throat

red bumps on their tongue – it looks like a strawberry

headache

abdominal pain, nausea & vomiting

chills

very sore throat and tonsils – swallowing is difficult

swollen glands

aches all over their body

Treatment is normally a course of antibiotics from your doctor. If your child appears to be unwell with any of the above symptoms, please see your GP.

Previous Announcements

From our student community leaders - new house names and themes

As students and staff are aware, over the past two weeks community leaders have been gaining student feedback on community colours and themes. Today the final decisions were processed based on feedback and surveys conducted over the last few days.

Have a think about how you could incorporate your community colours into your awesome costumes for the upcoming community swimming carnival on the 1st of March!

Coles sports for schools Vouchers

TC is collecting the Coles Sports for School vouchers to get some great sport equipment. Any time you visit Coles please collect the Sports for Schools vouchers and return to the general office or the resource centre! Happy shopping

NAPLAN

There will shortly be a letter available concerning the NAPLAN tests taking place at the beginning of May. From my experience there is a wide range of emotions felt by students towards these tests, from excitement through to anxiety. As we are a Department of Education school, all students in Entry and those who sat the NAPLAN tests 2 years ago as Entry Students are required to sit the tests. For a student to withdraw from the tests they can only do so by parents request. The website for NAPLAN (https://www.nap.edu.au/naplan/school-support/student-participation) states: “however students may be withdrawn from the testing program by their parent/carer if there are religious beliefs or philosophical objections to testing”. For this to happen you will need to contact the school to obtain a withdrawal form before the tests are sat. Please see the letter when it is available for more information.

Music @ TC news

Please find below news from our Music and Performance department, including some contact details for our music staff.

Next week Entry students will bring home a hard copy of their Student Enrolment Information, while all other families will receive a soft copy via email.

It is important that our records are accurate and up-to-date; therefore, we ask that you follow the instructions provided on the Student Enrolment Information Form and return the completed form to the General Office by Monday, 26 February 2018. Please note, that families with two households will receive only the information relevant to their household.

Please click on the link below for our Privacy Notice, which explains why we collect certain information, how to update your records should your information change, and access to those records.

We thank you for your assistance, and should you have any queries or concerns, please do not hesitate to contact the General Office on (03) 9850 6333.

TC Café News

Welcome to TC Café, firstly we would like to congratulate Joy on becoming a grandmother again to twins and wish her all the best for her on her long service leave. She will be dearly missed.

It has been a great start to the year with so many friendly faces popping into the café to say hello. As you may have noticed we have made a few changes inside and outside the café with the addition of more tables and some beautiful plants.

We have been trialling a few menu options and have found the homemade granola cups, yoghurt fruit cups, fruit salad cups, Parma melts and pasta are extremely popular.

We are open in the morning from 8.00am for breakfast.

The new menu should be finalised next week, thank you for your patience. And on behalf of all of us here have a fantastic weekend.

Jo, Shelley and Marj

VCAA Special Exam Considerations Information (for VCE Students)

“We would just like to remind everyone that the closing date for the submission of 2018 Special Examination Arrangements applications for long-term or chronic conditions is Friday, March 2nd. We are therefore requesting that parents of any students, or students themselves, who believe that they meet the criteria for special consideration for exams inform Matt Harris or Sally Holloway via mha@tc.vic.edu.au and sho@tc.vic.edu.au . We ask that this be done by Wednesday, February 21st, due to the requirements that are often required in order to complete these applications. Special provision may be provided in the form of a scribe, additional time, or use of a computer. If you would like any further information relating to the VCAA Special Provision Policy, you can use the following link: http://www.vcaa.vic.edu.au/Pages/vce/exams/specialprovision/specialprovision.aspx.

Performing Arts: Stage Dive Every Week

The performing arts program will be kicking off its new weekly performance program, The Stage Dive Sessions, on Monday at lunchtime. These will be occurring every Monday lunchtime, starting at 1:40, and will be filled with student pieces from across dance, music, drama and media.

School Calendar for Term 1

Please find attached our planner for term 1. This document in its current state has some events that aren’t confirmed, these are the ones in red writing. The Planner at TC is a dynamically moving document. This is the version as it is today. The weekly announcements and Compass are probably the most up to date ways of seeing the upcoming events.

VCE Catch Up Sessions

VCE Attendance Catch-up Sessions begin in the Silent Room on Monday 5 February. Catch-up Sessions will run weekly through the year at the following times:

Monday: 3.30pm to 4.40pm

Tuesday: 3.30pm to 4.40pm

Wednesday 1.30pm to 2.40pm

Thursday: 3.30pm to 4.40pm

Please be aware that ALL VCE students are required to meet the minimum VCE attendance requirements in 2018; this is currently set at 90%. Please see the attachment ‘Brief for VCE Attendance’ for further clarity on meeting the VCE attendance mark.

Panorama Bus Departure Times

A reminder that all the Panorama Bus leave at 3:37 every day of the week. Wednesday and Friday afternoons offer the opportunity for students to take part, and run clubs here @ TC or take part in the tutoring available. Please see the item in this item named “Wednesday and Friday Clubs” to see what is available for students to sign up to.

Compass Login for Parents

Please follow the link below to find information to help you with logging onto Compass for the first time as a parent or if you have lost your username or password. Parents, please note that you need to use the email address/mobile that was provided on your enrolment form for password recovery to work. If you have not logged into Compass yet, you should use this link to find help on obtaining your username and password:

Camps, Sports and Excursions Fund (CSEF)

If you hold a valid Concession Card/Health Care Card or are a temporary foster parent, you may be eligible for CSEF. The allowance is paid to TC to use towards expenses relating to camps, excursions or sporting activities for the benefit of your child.

The annual CSEF amount per students is $225.00. Please find attached the CSEF Application form. Please complete and return to the General Office with a copy of the relevant Concession Card.